Trap-door lock for railway-cars and similar structures.



O. M. EDWARDS.

TRAP DOOR LOOK FOR RAILWAY CARS AND SIMILAR STRUCTURES.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 11 1910.

Patented Oct. 13, 1914.

2 SHBETSSHEET 1.

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0. M. EDWARDS.

TRAP DOOR LOOK FOR RAILWAY (JARS AND SIMILAR STRUCTURES.

. Patented Oct. 13,1914.

2 SHEBTSSHEET 2.

//////////////////.I ll/l/l/l/l/ APPLICATION FILED NOV. 11, 1910'.

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OLIVER M. EDWARDS, or sYRAousn, NEW YORK.

TRAP-DOOR LOCK r03 mummies AND si ILAn STRUCTURES.

Specification: orLetters Patent. I Patented Oct, 13, 1914:.

Application filed November 11, 1910. Serial No. 591,776.

To all whom it may concern: V

Be it known that I, OLIVER M. EDwARDs,

a citizen of the United States, residing'at" Syracuse, county ofOnondaga, State of New York, have invented a certain "new and usefulImprovement in Trap-Door Looks for Railway-Cars and Similar Structures,of which the following is a full, clear, 1

and exact description, reference being had to the drawings accompanyingthe same. i

This invention relates generally to trap doors for platforms of railwaycarsjand locks for securing the same in the closed;

position and more particularly to trap doors provided with a spring orspringsadapted to aid in opening the same and locks for use with suchdoors.

One of its objects isto provide this class of trap doors with simple andefficient locking means in which the door engaging portion or bolt isGXPOSGdtO view so that the person in charge or others desiring to usethe platform can tell at a glance whether or not the door is securelylocked in place.

Another object is to provide this classof trap doors with locking meanshaving bolts or engaging parts which are simple and strong and engagewith the top surface of the door when such door moves into the fullyclosed position thus exposing such locking bolt or engaging parttotheeye of the person in charge or others desiring'to use the platform. j

Other objects will be apparent "'from -the descriptions hereinaftergiven and from the claims annexed hereunto. 3 i

With these and other objects in view the invention consists in theconstruction, parts or devices and the combinations or arrangements ofthe sametobe hereinafter more fully described and particularly pointedout in the claims hereunto annexed forming a part of this specification.t

In practice, it has been found that locks many times used to hold orlook trapdoorS in position, when] such doors are closed, do not securelyhold or lock them'in that position for the reason that the bolts orengag ing portions of such locks do not fully move into the lockingposition or become so worn that the bolts work back against the force oftheir springs, thereby releasing the door from their holding action.This permits the springs, many times applied to trap-doors, to moreor-less lift the doors into the open position and thereby permit ofpassengers or others stepping'into the openings thus formed and injuringthemselves.

Locks'in common use ontrap-doors pro- VldfidWltll springs to aid inOpening the same have their bolts or engaging parts arranged below thetop surface of the door and platform and out of sight of those desiringto use the vestibule platforms and i the person in charge has no way ofobserving whether such bolts are in the fully lockediposition or not,and is, therefore unmformed as to'the actual condition of the look. Itis a well known fact that the twistingaction of railway cars in passingover uneven tracks or around curves places great stralns upon the locksused for holding trapdoors in the closed position. Such twisting,

action tends to distort the relations of the doors to theopenings in theplatforms in which they are hung and this very often interferes withoperation of the locks and the movement of the bolts thereof into thefully locked position. These twisting actions many times cause the boltsofthe locks to gradually move into the unlocked position,

moving a little at'a time, out oflocking or holding position.

Figure 1 illustrates in plan view one-embodiment ofmy invention, aportion of a car, vestibule and vestibule door being shown in crosssection. 2 illustrates in side elevation'and also partly in verticaltrans-. verse section the trap door mounted in the platform and in theclosed position, the door, platform and the-mounting of the lockingnmeans being shown as on line 22 of Fig. 1. Fig. 8 shows on an enlargedscale a portion of theinounting for the looking bolt and-the boltitself, the latter being in cross section on line 22 of Fig. 1. Fig.

4: is a view on an enlarged scale similarto Fig. 2 of the modified formof locking means, the trap door being broken away. F ig.5 is a plan viewof another form of looking bolt. Fig. 6 shows in side elevation and invertical section a modified form of the construction seen in Figsl to 3,inclusive. Fig. '7 shows in plan view a portion of a trap door andplatform with the looking mean'sin full view, aportion of the casingandbolt being broken away to better illustrate the construction seen inFig; 6. Fig. 8 shows-in side elevation the locking bolt and casingasthey appearin looking figure of the-drawings.

in the direction of the arrow seen on that Like letters of reference,wherever they .occur indicate corresponding parts of the several figuresof the drawings.

In the several figures of the drawings A represents the platform and theportion of jacent to'the body of the car so as to be out of the way ofthose desiring to use the platform and trap-door, either when open orclosed and yet be within convenient reach of the person in charge who isto open and close such door.

The lock C is preferably provided with a rotative part or bolt 0preferably in eccentric form-which is provided with a suitably beveledface so that whichever way the bolt is pivotally mounted on the platformadjacent to the door opening, the door in closing willv engage with suchface and more I or less rotate the bolt and move it out of looking,position to permit the door to fully close. This bolt or part 0 ofthelock C is preferably mounted'in position to be moved into theunlocked position by the turning v of a shaft, as D, which shaft ismounted on the platform in a vertical position, as shown, so as to turnin its mountings and permit the bolt, as 0, to rotate or movesufficiently to lock or unlock the door. This bolt, as c, and the shaft,as D, are preferably so arranged relatively to the door and platformthat the entire bolt, as 0, passes over the door in full sight of theperson in charge, thus better enablingone to determine at a glancewhether or not such bolt is in position to'properly hold the doorclosed. As shown a spring, as d, is arranged in such a manner that itsstress always tends to move the shaft D and bolt or part 0 into thelooking position. The stress of this spring is preferably such that itwill under ordinary circumstances keep the bolt, as 0, in position tohold or look the doorB in the opening in the platform, when once suchdoor is brought into place to close such opening.

As shown in Fig. 3 the spring, as d, is arranged in a recess in thepart, as 0, one end of such spring being connected with the platform Aand the other end with the part or bolt, as 0, of thelock C. A-handle,asH,

is attached to the shaft D in a convenient position to be grasped by thehand of the person in charge or he who desires to unlock the door. a Y

In Fig. 4 the shape of the locking bolt 0 is somewhat different fromthat of the corresponding bolt in Figs. 1 to 3, but it operates insubstantially the same manner as that bolt does. The bolt 0 seen in Fig.5 is modified both in shape of its coacting face and the position inwhich it is mounted relatively to the door with which it coacts in theclosing of the same. When the bolt 0 is arranged as seen in Fig. 5, itis more easily moved out of locking position than when arranged as seenin Fig. 1, consequently the coacting face of the bolt may be shapeddifferently in Fig. 5 from what is necessary in the case of the lockingbolt seen in Fig. 1.

In Figs. 6 to 8, inclusive, a modified construction is shown in whichthe bolt, as c, is permitted to move independently of the operatingshaft, as D. As here shown this bolt as 0, may be more or less rotatedby the action of the door on the inclined. or beveled surface of suchbolt upon its closing without the shaft, with which the bolt is looselyconnected, being moved. The bolt, as c, seen in Figs. 6 to 8, ispivotally mounted on a stud, as 6, attached to the casing E of thelocking means, as C. The shaft, as D, is provided with an arm, as e, thefree end of which contacts with a port-ion of the bolt, as c, in such amanner as to move the bolt into the unlocked position when the shaft, asD, is turned in one direction, but such bolt is not moved in theopposite direction by turning such shaft. The bolt, as 0, is moved intothe locking position by the stress of the spring, as 6 which keeps thebolt, as c, in contact with the free end of the arm, as e, mounted onthe shaft, as D, when such bolt is free from strain and the spring, as 0controls its movement into the locking position. If, for any reason thebolt, as 0, is held against moving into the locking position orfollowing the return movement of the shaft, as D, the movement of suchshaft is not interfered with and it can be moved into its normalposition by the hand of the operator or otherwise without in anywayaffecting the bolt, as c. If it be desired to have the handle, as H,extend a greater distance from the shaft, as D, than shown, it can bepivotally connected with the shaft in any well known manner now used forso connecting handle portions to shafts, so that when not in use suchhandle portion is moved at its free end into position more or lessparallel with the shaft to which it is attached.

The locking bolt, as 0, as seen in Figs. 1 to 5, inclusive, is arrangedwholly above the surface of the platform and door and it is also whollyexposed to view. The spring, as d, automatically returns the shaft D andits fixedly attached locking bolt to the position where the bolt canengage with the upper surface of the door, when in the closed position.In Figs. 6 to 8, the corresponding spring also automatically returns theshaft D to the position where it can be actuated to move the bolt out oflocking position. As shown the shaft, as D, is extended down below theplatform and is preferably provided with a handle, as H, by which suchshaft may be partially rotated from underneath the car and the doorunlocked so as to be opened from the underside of the platform insteadof from the upper surface thereof. This many times is advantageous, asfor instance, when there is no one in the car or vestibule.

In each of the constructions here shown hold it in the closed position,but if desired 1 such locking part or bolt may be otherwise pivotallymounted to engage with the door, such bolt being suitably formed withthe door to move it out of the locking position as such door is beingclosed.

What is herein shown and described will naturally suggest to thoseskilled in the art other specific forms of locking means for trap doorsof the class herein referred to which are arranged for the locking boltor bolts to engage with the door in plain sight of the person or personsusing the platform in which the doors are placed and modifications ofthat which is herein shown and described which, while varying in form ordetails of construction of arrangement will have substantially the samemethod or mode of operation in accomplishing essentially the same workas is accomplished by that herein set forth, hence, I do not desire tolimit my invention to the specific forms, constructions or arrangementsof parts or devices herein shown and described, but desire to includeall forms, constructions and arrangements that are within the spirit ofmy invention.

What I claim as new is I 1. In a car platform the combination,substantially as set forth, of a trap door mounted therein, lockingmeans provided with a pivotally mounted locking bolt having a faceadapted to coact with the door when closing to move it out of lockingposition and arranged relatively to the door and platform to be exposedto View when in position: to lock the door in the platform, andoperating means for actuating such bolt out of locking position torelease the door.

2. In a car platform the combination, substantially as set forth, of atrap door mounted therein, locking means provided with a pivotallymounted locking bolt arranged above the surface of theplatform and doorin plain sight of the operator having a face which coacts with the doorin closing the same, and operating means adapted tomove such bolt intoposition to release the door.

3. In a car platform the combination, substantially as set forth, of atrap door mounted therein, locking means provided with apivotallymounted locking bolt arranged. to engage with the upper surfaceof the door a and movable in planes substantially parallel with suchsurface and having a face adapted to coact with the door in closing thesame, and operating means adapted to move such bolt into position torelease the door.

4:. In a car platform the combination, substantially as set forth, of atrap door mounted therein, a pivotally mounted locking bolt arranged onits pivot at an angle to the platform and to engage with the uppersurface of the door for locking the same in the platform, having aneccentric face to coact I with the door in closing or moving the boltout of locking position, and operating means for releasing the door fromthe looking bolt.

5. In a car platform, the combination of a trap door mounted therein,locking means provided with a pivotally mounted looking I bolt arrangedwith its axial lineat an angle to the plane of the platform, and havinga cam face normally arranged in the path of the door as the doorapproaches the limit of itsclosedposition, such cam face extendingspirally around the axis of the looking bolt, and operating meansconnected to the bolt and arranged to withdraw the bolt out of operativeposition, substantially as andfor the purpose described.

6. In a car platform, the combination of a trap door mounted therein,locking means, and operating means for moving the locking means out ofoperative position, the operating means comprising a rock shaft arrangedat an angle to the plane of the platform, a

bolt-mounted on the rock shaft and a spring encircling the shaft andacting on the bolt for moving the bolt into operative position andpermitting the latching action thereof, substantially as and for thepurpose described.

OLIVER M. EDWARDS.

Witnesses G. W. (mm, 1 F. S. WILMARTH.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. 0. I

